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During the winter cold season, many people turn to
echinacea supplements to boost their immunity and fight off
illness. In 2004, a U.S. government survey found that
echinacea was the nation’s most popular herbal
medicine, used by 40 percent of those who bought herbal
products.

But echinacea’s effectiveness was called into
question last July, when the New England Journal of
Medicine published the results of a large clinical trial
that found the herb did not help treat or prevent colds.
The study, funded by the National Center for Complementary
and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM), made headlines across the
country, most of them declaring the end of echinacea as a
cold remedy.

Does that mean you should throw away the echinacea in your
medicine cabinet Not so fast, says Mark Blumenthal,
executive director of the American Botanical Council (ABC),
a nonprofit organization that promotes research and
education on medicinal plants.

“The study was well conducted; it was very well
controlled, but this is not the definitive study,”
Blumenthal says. “It needs to be seen in the context
of the many other trials of echinacea.” The ABC,
which publishes in-depth reference information on medicinal
herbs, has posted research on echinacea at
www.herbalgram.org. Among the 21 studies listed, 18 found
positive results, with three finding no significant
effects.

As the researchers themselves noted in the NCCAM study,
it’s difficult to prove or disprove that echinacea
fights colds because so many forms of the herb are used.
Commonly called purple coneflower, echinacea is a genus
with three different species that are used
medicinally—Echinacea purpurea, E. pallida, and E.
angustifolia. Medicinal preparations may contain either the
root or the aboveground portion of the plant from any of
these species, and they may be prepared as dried herbs
available in capsules, liquid extract sold as a tincture,
or even dried extracts. Even the geographic location of the
plant and the time of year it was harvested can affect its
chemical composition, according to the researchers who
conducted the NCCAM study.

For that trial, the researchers used a tincture of E.
angustifolia root three times a day in dosages that were
equivalent to 300 milligrams. The trial was conducted on
437 college students who were given cold viruses and then
sequestered in hotel rooms. Those given extracts of E.
angustifolia did not display any fewer infections or
shorter duration of the cold symptoms than those who did
not receive the herb; and the extracts were not any more
effective when given before exposure to the virus than they
were in reducing its effects.

One of the study’s co-authors, Dr. Rudolf Bauer, told
The New York Times that different dosages, species and
preparations of echinacea should be tested, and that he
personally will continue to take echinacea.

Blumenthal says that while this study provides useful
information about this preparation of E. angustifolia at
that particular dosage, he thinks the dosage tested should
have been higher.

The 900 milligrams-per-day level was determined according
to the echinacea guidelines published for a different
species (E. pallida) by Commission E—a German
government committee that compiled a widely used reference.
But more recent standards, including those set by the World
Health Organization and the Canadian National Health
Products Directorate, recommend a dosage level of 3,000
milligrams a day.

“The whole thing is about dosage,” Blumenthal
says. “It’s like taking one-third of an aspirin
and wondering why you still have a headache.”

Blumenthal’s advice is to take echinacea the same way
he does. As soon as he notices cold symptoms, Blumenthal
takes a tincture of immune-boosting herbs including
echinacea, astragalus, andrographis and elderberry syrup,
about two droppersful every two to four hours for two days.
“I take big doses right away, and usually within 24
to 36 hours, I have it knocked out.”

— Megan Phelps

sprouts & snippets

Free Birds

More U.S. businesses and universities are joining the
campaign to discontinue the purchase of eggs from caged
chickens. In 2005, natural food retail chains such as
Earth Fare, Jimbo’s…Naturally and Wild Oats
Natural Marketplace announced that they would no longer
sell eggs from caged hens. Several universities,
including George Washington University, the University of
Arizona and the University of Connecticut, also have
stopped purchasing eggs laid by chickens confined in
cages. For more information about this campaign,
organized by the Humane Society of the United States, go
to www.hsus.org.

Bike Funding

The new federal transportation bill will help make
bicycling safer, more convenient and more fun for all
Americans. It authorizes as much as $4 billion in new
federal spending for bike paths, trails and related
programs through September 2009. The law includes close
to $2 billion for new bike paths, lanes and safe
crossings; $612 million for construction of safe routes
to schools; $70 million for recreational trails; and $100
million to develop bicycle/pedestrian communities in a
handful of cities. “This transportation bill should
be at least $1 billion better for bicycling than the last
bill that passed in 1998,” says Tim Blumenthal,
executive director of the Bikes Belong Coalition, a
national bicycle industry advocacy group that was
instrumental in maximizing bike funding in this bill. For
more information, go to www.americabikes.org.

Hurricane Relief

Whole Foods Market, one of the nation’s largest
natural food retailers, provided a month-long pay
continuation and $2,400 relocation assistance for all of
its New Orleans-area employees after Hurricane Katrina
struck last August. The company also gave food to victims
in New Orleans and set up hurricane-relief donation
activities in all of its stores. Whole Foods CEO John
Mackey says the company will match 100 percent of its
customers’ donations, up to $1 million. For more
information, visit www.wholefoodsmarket.com.

Global Warming and Hurricanes

In the wake of last summer’s hurricanes, many have
wondered if global warming caused or contributed to these
devastating storms.

“Scientific evidence suggests there is a link
between global warming and the power, not frequency, of
hurricanes,” says Brenda Ekwurzel, a climate
scientist with the Union of Concerned Scientists.

Rising global temperatures have increased ocean
temperatures, and warmer water amplifies the intensity of
hurricanes. Last August, Hurricane Katrina left Florida
as a Category 1 hurricane with winds up to 95 mph and
then weakened to a mild tropical storm. But as Katrina
moved through the warmer waters of the Gulf of Mexico, it
transformed into a Category 5 hurricane, with winds up to
175 mph (shown above).

Three weeks later, Hurricane Rita entered the Gulf and in
two days went from Category 1 to Category 5. In October,
Hurricane Wilma became the most powerful storm ever
recorded in the Atlantic Ocean basin.

Ekwurzel says it’s hard to blame any one weather
event—be it a hurricane, a heat wave or a
blizzard—on global warming, but recent research
from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
shows that the duration and wind speed of hurricanes have
significantly increased over the last 30 years. Another
study from the Georgia Institute of Technology found that
the number of Category 4 and 5 hurricanes has doubled in
the last 30 years, parallel to increases in average ocean
surface temperatures over the same period. Most of the
strongest hurricanes on record have occurred in the last
decade, when ocean surface temperatures reached record
levels.

MIT research also suggests that hurricanes will only get
more powerful and last longer as global warming increases
ocean temperatures.

Global warming is primarily the result of carbon dioxide
and other greenhouse gases—produced by the burning
of fossil fuels in cars and power plants—that
blanket the Earth and trap heat. Because 75 percent of
the Earth is covered by oceans, they absorb most of this
heat. Temperatures already have risen in recent decades,
and because greenhouse gases can stay in the atmosphere
for 100 or more years, temperatures will continue to rise
even if emissions are held at current levels.

“For economic and environmental reasons, and above
all to save human lives, President Bush and other elected
officials must take action to reduce heat-trapping
emissions,” Ekwurzel says.

Solutions to combat global warming and the climate
disruption it causes, according to Ekwurzel, include
encouraging automakers to design more fuel-efficient
cars, requiring more of our energy to come from renewable
sources, establishing a federal cap on emissions and
requiring more energy efficiency in public and private
buildings. “Hurricanes Katrina and Rita have shown
us that the time for studies, denials and false debate is
over,” she says. For more information on this
topic, go to www.ucsusa.org and click on “Global
Warming.”

Herbal Gift Basket
A selection of soaps, incense, smudge sticks and jam all
made from sustainably harvested plants of the American
West. $32 to $60; Juniper Ridge; (800) 205-9499;
www.juniperridge.com

Compact Fluorescent Light (CFL) Bulbs
CFLs use one-third of the energy and last up to 10 times
longer than conventional bulbs. Replacing five
incandescent bulbs with Energy Star-rated CFLs can help
save up to 50 percent of a household’s annual
lighting bill. $3 to $24; Energy Federation;
www.energyfederation.org

Gadgets
Cell Phone Chargers
With the Sidewinder (bottom), two minutes of cranking
delivers five to six minutes of talk time or up to 30
minutes on standby. $25. The solar E-power Charger is a
pocket-size, folding solar charger for phones and
batteries. $69. Both from Real Goods; (800) 869-3446;
www.realgoods.com

15-in-one Screwdriver
This is the best multibit screwdriver we’ve ever
seen.
A cartridge slides neatly out of the handle, making it
easy to choose the bit you need. $17; Lee Valley Tools;
(800) 871-8158; www.leevalley.com

Bat House
With room for up to 40 bats, this will welcome the
world’s best mosquito control to any back yard.
$50; Real Goods; (800) 869-3446; www.realgoods.com

Charity
Donations also make excellent holiday gifts.
Green Hurricane Relief Programs
Many nonprofit groups are focusing their energies on
repairing the environmental damage of Hurricanes Katrina
and Rita, as well as helping affected pets and wildlife:

The Humane Society of the United States, www.hsus.org;
Environmental Defense, www.environmentaldefense.org;
Wildlife Conservation Society, www.wcs.org; American
Forests, www.americanforests.org; Trust for Public Land,
www.tpl.org

Adopt an Animal
A friend or child will enjoy these programs devoted to
saving endangered species. They offer personalized ways
to get to know—and make a difference
for—otters, owls, tigers, wolves, whales and
more. Starts at $25; Defenders of Wildlife, (800)
385-9712, www.wildlifeadoption.org; Smithsonian National
Zoological Park,
www.nationalzoo.si.edu/support/adoptspecies

Pets
For Cats
Even the most finicky feline will take to this horizontal
scratcher that’s made of recycled cardboard and
sprinkled with organic catnip. $10 to $17; for retail
outlets, call (800) 967-5394 or go to
www.worldwise.com/storelocator.html

For Dogs
Dogs would be happy with anything (even an old shoe!),
but this fluffy fleece bed is sure to be a hit among our
most loyal friends. $15 to $40; for retail outlets, call
(800) 967-5394 or go to
www.worldwise.com/storelocator.html

Following a Peregrine Falcon

In the 1980s, On the Wing author Alan Tennant
volunteered with a team of biologists striving to shed
light on the mysteries and dangers surrounding
peregrine falcons’ transcontinental migrations
from their breeding territories north of the Arctic
Circle to their wintering grounds on South Padre
Island, and back again.

Written from the perspective of a passionate naturalist
and romantic idealist, Tennant’s On the Wing
relates his obsession with trying to follow a migrating
falcon, a feat never attempted before. To accomplish
his quest, he enlisted the help of George Vose, a
70-year-old ex-World War II fighter pilot and
Vose’s almost-as-ancient, rattletrap,
single-engine Cessna plane.

On the Wing: To the Edge of the Earth with the
Peregrine Falcon. By Alan Tennant (Knopf, 2004)

An inveterate and accomplished aviator, Vose had been
hired by the U.S. Army to radio-track the short-term
movements of peregrines as they left South Padre
Island. It was during one of these tracking flights
that Tennant, onboard to observe, grew frustrated with
the Army’s limited research goals and began to
hatch a plot to follow a falcon all the way home. A
self-proclaimed outlaw, Tennant “borrowed”
the Army’s sophisticated tracking equipment and,
together with Vose, began a multiyear transcontinental
odyssey of enlightenment and concern over the plight of
peregrine falcons, which are the fastest animals on the
planet.

As a current member of the Padre Island Peregrine
Falcon Survey team, I am struck by the author’s
vivid portrayal of the stark beauty and unique natural
history of South Padre Island and its importance as a
refuge for peregrines, as well as for hundreds of other
migrating bird species. In captivating narrative,
Tennant describes the landscapes and habitats, the
wonders and the perils encountered by peregrines along
their migration routes—scenes that I have often
imagined after releasing a freshly banded falcon to
continue on its way.

Unfortunately, Tennant exercises literary license with
some of the facts, such as the portrayal of Prescott
Ward, a biologist who took exception to Tennant’s
unauthorized and illegal activities. Tennant did not
have the proper training or the necessary permits
required to work with peregrines, and his actions put
the whole project at risk of being shut down. Still,
his concern for the species is sincere.

Though the peregrine falcon has recovered from the
brink of extinction, there still are threats such as
rampant coastal development and the spread of the West
Nile Virus and Avian Influenza. The public’s
fascination with peregrines and concern for their
welfare remains as passionate today as when Tennant and
Vose undertook their own epic migrations.

More than just a superb account of natural history, On
the Wing is part exotic travelogue, part epic adventure
saga, part coming-of-middle-age chronicle and part
buddy story. Tennant’s tale is wondrous,
suspenseful, hilarious and introspective. It is a book
that crosses many genres and should appeal to a wide
variety of readers.

— Brian Latta

Brian Latta is a field biologist for the Predatory Bird
Research Group at the University of California at Santa
Cruz, working primarily with peregrine falcon recovery.
He’s also a member of the Padre Island Peregrine
Falcon Survey team, which has studied peregrine
migration since 1993.

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